Seidel City Film Series:
Featuring the films Happy Birthday Charlie, Earl Biss, The Spirit Who Walks Among His People, and Make Me Famous featuring special art to reflect the films being shown
January 22 - January 24, 2026
About Seidel City Film Series:
Seidel City is pleased to announce the Seidel City Film Series, a new program bringing together documentary film, contemporary art, and public conversation. Screenings will take place January 22 through 24, each followed by a panel discussion.
Thursday, January 22 at 7 pm
Happy Birthday Charlie with a panel discussion led by Nina Martinek
June, a nurse living with her teenage daughter, Charlie, in a trailer in rural New Mexico, struggles to hold her life together amid a gambling boyfriend, a failing car, and a deepening addiction to opiates. When she is caught stealing medication from her patients, June flees town with Charlie, clinging to the hope of safety in Texas as their journey unravels into escalating danger. Driven by shame, faith, and addiction, June drags her daughter into her downward spiral, ultimately abandoning her in the desert in a warped act of belief. Their paths collide again in a grim Texas underworld, forcing June to confront the life she is condemning Charlie to, and leading her to a final, desperate act of redemption.
Friday, January 23 at 7 pm
Earl Biss documentary with Lisa Gerstner followed by a panel discussion
Earl Biss, The Spirit Who Walks Among His People is a powerful documentary that illuminates the life, work, and legacy of groundbreaking Crow artist Earl Biss (1947–1998), a pivotal figure in the rise of Contemporary Native American Art and the broader explosion of Southwestern art in the late twentieth century. Renowned for his commanding portraits of Plains Indian horsemen, masterful use of oil paint, and exuberant, expressive color, Biss was celebrated by critics and collectors alike, with one describing him as “the greatest colorist of the 20th century.” Through archival footage of Biss painting and speaking, alongside interviews with tribal members, friends, art dealers, and patrons, the film offers an intimate and deeply human portrait of an artist whose journey was as dynamic and complex as his work, tracing a life marked by creativity, cultural significance, and a turbulent ascent within the art world.
Saturday, January 24 at 7 pm
Make Me Famous with a panel discussion featuring Mark Sink
Make Me Famous is a 2021 biographical documentary that traces the life and work of painter Edward Brezinski and his restless pursuit of recognition within the New York art world. Set against the gritty backdrop of Manhattan in the 1970s and 1980s, the film reconstructs a vanished creative scene through the voices of artists, writers, and friends who knew Brezinski, positioning him as both a singular figure and a stand-in for the broader desires and anxieties that drive artistic ambition. The Guardian praised the film as a touching search for a long-lost painter amid the grime and energy of downtown New York, while Artforum highlighted its brilliantly digressive structure and deeply empathetic tone, noting how Brezinski becomes a blank onto which audiences can project the hopes and fears embedded in creative life. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with photographer Mark Sink, who was a friend of Brezinski and documented his work throughout the 1980s, and a selection of Brezinski’s artwork will be on view in the gallery in conjunction with the film.
Three new exhibitions have also been curated to coincide with and preview alongside the film series.
Trailers:
Happy Birthday Charlie https://vimeo.com/544767666
Earl Biss, The Spirit Who Walks Among His People https://vimeo.com/451269290
Make Me Famous https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCdEk7Tf_b0
